There is a 3G radio in system.. would it really be that hard to implement a 'live update' sort of solution???

As someone who has implemented an over the air (OTA) update solution before and may yet have to do it again, the answer is, "yes, it can be." It's a well understood problem, but it has its challenges.

Nothing that money and time can't fix, of course, but it seems like everything that adds money or time to the package gets scrutinized and especially so if it is a shared component across a wide range of products with some where those extra dollars may not work.

The first problem is that a 3G connection is not reliable. You'd hate it if you went out in the morning and your truck wouldn't start because half way thru an update it lost the connection. The solution is to download and store the entire update and validate its correctness before beginning the update. As long as the storage capacity is there, we can deal with the unreliable connection. It just costs a few dollars if it isn't already available.

The second problem is security. Do you really want to allow anybody to shove an update thru the 3G into your vehicle's critical systems? It's possible that for security the systems just don't allow an update to come via that path (but only via the OBD or some other connector). Unless there is some non-technical reason, again this can be solved. Every vehicle can ship with a public key to verify and validate the authenticity of the source of an update before it is installed. There can even be key revocation so that if for some reason security is compromised the system can be told to ignore online updates and require a dealer visit with a cabled connection to update before any OTA will be accepted.

The final problem is the reason we are having this discussion. Bugs. Given there is no perfect software, and any kind of remote/radio originated update will be applied by software while the vehicle is anywhere, a bug might allow a bad update or could cause an update to fail. Could be a pretty big cost in money, public relations, etc. Hence the risk is high. And the reward? Low. A customer who is significantly bothered will come in to the dealer. Recalls can be issued for non-obvious but critical updates or simply service advisories (perhaps with a tempting bonus) for those less than critical. But with enough time in design, development and testing, the likelyhood of such a critical defect can be minimized, reducing the risk. But time is money.

The balance between cost, risk, and reward is something product teams have to decide. I expect we will see OTA updates. But I fully appreciate why they are not yet ubiquitous.

You know... if my phone quits working in the middle of BFE Kansas because of a software update failure and I can't call someone until I get to a gas station that's going to suck. If my Jeep quits working in BFE Kansas because of a software update failure and strands me in the middle of nowhere I'm going to be EXTREMELY pissed off.

What sucks is that those early adopters to the MY14 appear to be the beta testers of the UConnect system which is odd since they are already being used "problem free" with Dodge Dart(?). I just hope they resolve these issues. My biggest concern with the entire "touch screen" everything is being confirmed by this-if you have 90% of the HVAC/Electronic controls on an electronic/touch screen interface, THIS is what happens. Hope it gets resolved by Labor Day when I go order/purchase mine.

What sucks is that those early adopters to the MY14 appear to be the beta testers of the UConnect system which is odd since they are already being used "problem free" with Dodge Dart(?). I just hope they resolve these issues. My biggest concern with the entire "touch screen" everything is being confirmed by this-if you have 90% of the HVAC/Electronic controls on an electronic/touch screen interface, THIS is what happens. Hope it gets resolved by Labor Day when I go order/purchase mine.

The 300, Journey, Dart etc. use version 1 of the UConnect 8.4" system. The Grand Cherokee (and soon Durango) are the first vehicles using version 2.

My biggest concern with the entire "touch screen" everything is being confirmed by this-if you have 90% of the HVAC/Electronic controls on an electronic/touch screen interface, THIS is what happens.

Yeah.. but, here's the thing, they can flash it to update not just the programming of how stuff works, but can flash it to add/remove features as well as update the UX interface. In theory, they could decide, "Yeah, we want to put the butt warmers on the home screen" and flash it.. poof there ya go.

You can't do that with physical buttons. Something goes wonky on your push button radio (like a button getting sticky apply juice kid fingers on them and they gum up.. you are screwed).

There are upsides and down sides to either option. The upsides to this system is they can fix stuff with a bit of coding and rearrange things after launch. The downside is, it may have bugs.

__________________2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland CRD

Date Ordered: 08/10/2013
Date Delivered: Same day we get the floating skateboards from Back to the Future.

2014 Dodge Durango Citadel

Date Ordered: 08/10/2013
Date Delivered: A fiscal quarter or three before the Jeep

I sell industrial touchscreens with embedded controls that operate machinery. It has been accepted by machine builders and their end users that touch screens are less expensive, as reliable, and more versatile than hardwired controls. The HMI (human machine interface) software and touchscreen market is 20+ years old. Auto applications are just now catching on as hardware cost has decreased and embedded OS technology has become commonplace. I wouldn't be shocked if UConnect is an Android or similar Linux OS based app.

bd

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The founder of JeepGarage.org, Scottina06, has a son Max who is in need of corrective surgery from an infection at birth that left one leg 4 inches short. We need to support our Jeep brothers. His family has started a fund on giveforward.com. If you have ever been helped by someone else, now is a good time to pay it forward. Here is a link to that page. God bless you! http://gfwd.at/1rz33PW

I sell industrial touchscreens with embedded controls that operate machinery. It has been accepted by machine builders and their end users that touch screens are less expensive, as reliable, and more versatile than hardwired controls. The HMI (human machine interface) software and touchscreen market is 20+ years old. Auto applications are just now catching on as hardware cost has decreased and embedded OS technology has become commonplace. I wouldn't be shocked if UConnect is an Android or similar Linux OS based app.

bd

It's based on QNX, the precursor to Blackberry 10. The underlying OS is interesting to me because it means it may be moddable. I'm not a programmer but I love to tinker so I'm planning on researching what sorts of things we can do with the computer in the dash.